House Republican efforts to forge a budget blueprint for the coming fiscal year collapsed last night amid acrimony and name-calling, as the fissures between GOP moderates and conservatives once again burst into the open.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The budget-cutting bill awaiting President Bush's signature may only make a small dent in the nation's huge deficit, but he is expected to propose more cuts in his 2007 plan, including farm subsidies, Medicaid and Medicare.

There was a time when to be a Democrat in Congress was akin to belonging to a luncheon club just so you could eat the food and enjoy the people. Staying for the program wasn’t such a priority. No longer. Democrats on Capitol Hill are relying more on what has been the GOP political playbook, staying in step and sometimes getting tough with those who miss a beat.

Congressional Democrats stepped up attacks on what they called Republicans' "culture of cronyism and corruption" on Thursday, trying to capitalize on a spate of ethics scandals and the Bush administration's heavily criticized response to Hurricane Katrina.

With a new fiscal year imminent and most of their spending bills left unfinished, congressional Republicans on September 29 were forced to act on a temporary funding extension while struggling to regain control of their agenda.

House Democrats, led by Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD), are calling for tripling the budget for the Pentagon’s Cooperative Threat Reduction program and other nonproliferation initiatives as part of a new national security strategy unveiled Sept 15.

Fifteen Democratic members of the House of Representatives have produced a document and a strategy they hope will convince substantial numbers of voters who don’t trust them on national security to begin trusting them again.
Led by Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland, “Ensuring America’s Strength and Security: A Democratic National Security Strategy for the 21st Century” is an attempt by at least some Democrats to reclaim this issue from Republicans and return the Democratic Party to majority status.

WASHINGTON Decades ago, Democrats with names like Kennedy and Roosevelt and Truman were known for their tough-minded views on military and foreign policy and their ability to lead the nation in times of conflict.

Efforts to stem the spread of nuclear weapons are at the center of a Democratic national security strategy put forward by House leaders last week, with legislators advocating a significant increase in spending on nonproliferation and a dramatic acceleration of cooperative nonproliferation programs with Russia.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) has assembled a kitchen cabinet of fellow moderate Members to shape the Democratic strategy on national security issues and battle perceptions that the party is weak on defense.

Key House members have served notice at the Office of Personnel Management that they are concerned about delays in processing and approving full pension payments to federal employees who have filed their retirement papers.

Separate White House and congressional events yesterday spotlighted the deep divisions over changing Social Security, laying the battle lines for a fall fight that pits President Bush not only against Democrats but also against some leaders in his own party.